Tweeters/ Jon:
I have frequently seen LBJs eat the earliest forsythia flowers. It
is also not uncommon for them to eat the pollen-filled hazel catkins,
also early. My guess is that the flowers are like "fresh Greens" in the
springtime, and that pollen is an important protein source at a time when
both are scarce.
Janet Partlow
partlowj at elwha.evergreen.edu

On Fri, 29 Mar 1996, Jon. Anderson and Marty Chaney wrote:

> Hi, Tweets,
>
> Thought some folks might be interested in what I saw this afternoon in downtown Olympia when I was walking along Washington Street and 9th.
>
> There were about 5 or 6 House Finches and 3 House Sparrows in some pink-flowering ornamental plum trees which were all in bloom. I watched them feeding along from branch to branch, and assumed they were after insects or something. But after a closer look, I found they were pulling the flower buds from the branches and eating them! They were selecting some buds, but not others, and would occasionally pick one flower which was slightly open. They dropped a few that they had picked, and picked *at* some that they didn't pick off, but different birds picked off several buds, 'masticated' them, and ate 'em. I watched these birds for about 5 minutes, until some customers came out of the local Credit Union office and gave me "that" look (the one reserved for those of us who perform strange behavior in public.... like staring into the trees while standing in the street).
>
> I get quite a few House Finches in the 'feral' (Bing and Royal Anne) cherry trees in my back yard, but I have not seen them to feed on the flowers there. Also, I didn't expect to see two species from different groups feeding on the same 'resource'.
>
> I have watched ring-necked pheasants and Calif. quail eating buds of Douglas Hawthorn this time of year, but had not seen finches eating flower buds before. Is this a common behavior?
>
> Jon. Anderson
> Olympia, Washington
> festuca at olywa.net
>